Batman: Accountability
by DannyStones
Summary: When Commissioner Gordon is kidnapped by men dressed as clowns, Batman prepares for another run in with the Joker. Unbeknownst to him, however, a new villain is about to put a five-year-scheme into action... Told from the point of view of both Batman and the villain, this story shows the effect Batman has on the less infamous criminals of Gotham City.
1. Part 1

EXT. MONASTERY DAY – NIGHT  
A Buddhist monastery in a mountainous region. A HOODED MAN with a backpack steps through the gate and walks down the dirt path. The gate opens behind him and an OLD MAN steps out.

OLD MAN  
Where are you going, friend?

HOODED MAN  
To Gotham City. I'm going home.

OLD MAN  
Revenge will not bring you satisfaction.

HOODED MAN  
Who mentioned revenge?

OLD MAN  
A man who leaves in the middle of the night is a man who doesn't want his friends  
to attempt to change his mind… I wish you would reconsider, but if you will not…  
good luck.

HOODED MAN  
…Thank you.

The HOODED MAN turns and walks away down the road.

EXT. GOTHAM ALLEY – EVENING  
CAPTION: ONE MONTH LATER  
BATMAN swings down on a wire, kicking a THUG in the back of the head. BATMAN lands and punches another THUG. He grabs THUG #2 by the throat.

BATMAN  
I know Black Mask paid you to make a hit here. Who was the target?

THUG #2  
…You.

A fire exit bursts open and dozens of other THUGS run out armed with knives, bats, pipes etc. BATMAN throws THUG #2 into the crowd knocking several others over. A fight ensues. BATMAN knocks out one guy but another jabs him in the back with a cattle prod. BATMAN convulses and falls to his knees. THUGS crowd around and start beating him with pipes and bats.

KNIFE THUG  
Make way, let me at him!

A small round pellet hits the KNIFE THUG in the face, knocking him back. A huge cloud of smoke erupts from the pellet. The THUGS look confused.

THUG #3  
Hey!

THUG #4  
Where did that come from?

BATGIRL  
Up here.

BATGIRL glides from a nearby rooftop landing in the fray. She kicks several THUGS at once, clearing space around BATMAN. BATMAN stands and the smoke clears. BATMAN elbows a THUG in the face while behind him BATGIRL kicks one square in the chest.

BATMAN  
That was good timing Barbara. Why are you here?

BATGIRL  
My dad's missing.

BATMAN  
What?

BATMAN catches a THUG's bat as it comes down on him. BATGIRL punches a THUG.

BATGIRL  
A crane operator on the docks saw a group of guys in clown makeup carrying  
barrels into a warehouse. Dad figured Joker was up to something and went down  
there with eleven officers, all armed to the teeth.

BATGIRL dodges a knife thrust. BATMAN punches the THUG with the cattleprod.

BATMAN  
And Joker kidnapped them?

BATGIRL  
I'm not sure. No one heard from him after he left the station. I put a tracking  
device in his phone. Alfred's tracing it now.

A ring sound is head. BATMAN and BATGIRL each touch the right ear of their cowls while fighting/dodging THUGS.  
SFX: RRRRING RING

BATGIRL  
Alfred, tell me it's good news.

ALFRED(O.S.)  
I can't be certain, Miss Gordon. I've traced your father's signal all the way to  
the Eastside Harbour, but it stops by a warehouse near the dry docks.

BATMAN headlocks a THUG.

BATMAN  
That area was home to a number of lead works in the past. The signal may be being  
blocked.  
BATGIRL kicks one THUG in the face while preparing to punch another.

BATGIRL  
I'm going to check it out.

BATMAN grabs a THUG from behind, squeezing his neck with his forearm.

BATMAN  
No. If Joker's behind this, he did it to get _my _attention.

A THUG shoves BATGIRL to the floor and runs away, hopping on a motorcycle.

BATGIRL

Son of a-

BATGIRL chases after the THUG. BATMAN grapples to a nearby roof.

ALFRED (O.S.)  
Should I prepare the biohazard suit if you're going near that much lead, sir?

BATMAN  
Very funny Alfred.

BATMAN heads to the docks via the rooftops.

INT. APARTMENT – EVENING  
CAPTION: TWO WEEKS AGO  
The HOODED MAN sits at a desk in a Gotham Apartment. The desk and wall are covered in maps, sketches and notes, as well as a needle and thread. A thick book rests in the centre of the desk. Written in it are dozens of names. The HOODED MAN makes a phone call.

HOODED MAN  
Hello? It's me again… Riddler? No! It's… The Reckoner. I made placed an order  
with you and you said phone back today. …Okay. …Alright. …I'll see you then.

EXT. GOTHAM STREET – NIGHT  
A dingy street. Beneath a dull street lamp the HOODED MAN knocks on a metal door with no handle. A peephole opens. It's quite low on the door.

VOICE  
Name?

HOODED MAN  
Reckoner.

The door swings open and the HOODED MAN enters. The room is very dark, lit by a single light bulb hanging over a desk. The man who answered the door heads to the desk and climbs onto the rather high stool. It is JERVIS TETCH – THE MAD HATTER. He opens a box on the desk and removes a metallic headband.

HATTER  
Here it is. My opus.

HOODED MAN  
How effective is it?

HATTER  
Total cerebral dominance. Manage to slip one of these onto the President, you  
could become Dictator of America, hyeh.

HOODED MAN  
Impressive. Though my target is much more local.

EXT. EASTSIDE DOCKS – NIGHT  
BATMAN glides along at the Eastside Docks. He lands outside a warehouse whose main doors are already opened.

BATMAN  
Alfred, I'm there.

ALFRED (O.S.)  
I'll have Lucius on standby with the lead poisoning antidotes.

INT. WAREHOUSE GROUND FLOOR - NIGHT  
BATMAN enters the warehouse. It's a large, relatively empty room. The only thing of note are fifty or so barrels with Joker faces painted crudely on them. BATMAN peers into one: it contains a mix of solid pieces in some sort of mushy substance. BATMAN takes a sample of it for later. He heads up the stairs.

INT. WAREHOUSE THIRD FLOOR – NIGHT  
BATMAN enters the third floor. It is empty.  
SFX: RRRRING RING  
He touches his right ear.

BATGIRL  
Oh… So the lead isn't blocking the signal.

BATMAN  
I didn't want you getting involved with Joker if you didn't have you.

BATGIRL  
Why not? I've been doing this for a while, Bruce, I can handle myself. If that  
psychopath has my father, I want to help find him.

BATMAN (ignoring her)  
I haven't found him yet. I'm on the third floor and there's no sign of anyone.

BATGIRL  
Hmph. I caught the motorcyclist. I'm on my way to you now…

INT. WAREHOUSE GROUND FLOOR – NIGHT  
Five men in clown makeup enter the warehouse. They douse the whole floor with petrol then set it alight.

INT. WAREHOUSE FOURTH FLOOR – NIGHT  
BATMAN emerges on the fourth floor. It at first appears as empty as the others, then BATMAN notices a table in the centre of the room, beneath a spot light. He approaches. On the table is a book, the same book from the HOODED MAN'S desk. Twelve more names have been added, the last of which is 'JAMES GORDON.' The PA system above the table crackles.  
SFX: KRRRR KR KRRR

VOICE (O.S)  
I see you found my list. Unfortunately I wasn't able to trace back further than  
couple of years, but… I figure it's enough to make my point. I had added myself  
but then I decided if I did that then I'd have to include a couple of hundred  
cases of limps… amputations… brain damage. In the end I decided to be brief and  
just include your friends gathered downstairs.

BATMAN  
I don't enjoy trading philosophy with a PA system. Show yourself.

Twelve men in identical outfits step out from behind support pillars. They wear black robes, similar to those worn by lawyers. They also wear black coifs with white masks covering their faces. One man wears a sash reading 'Foreman.' They encircle Batman. Another man emerges, dressed similarly to the others, but wearing a lawyer's wig. He continues to speak into the microphone.

HOODED MAN (In-person and via speaker)  
You seem disappointed. Were you expecting the Joker?

He tosses the microphone aside.

HOODED MAN CONT'D  
Sorry for the deception but the Commissioner was unlikely to come out for  
anything less than the big guy.

BATMAN  
If you're not with Joker then who are you, 'your honour?'

HOODED MAN  
I'm no judge Batman, merely a lawyer. And I brought you here so you can be held  
accountable before a jury of your peers.

BATMAN  
Accountable for what?

Close up on the HOODED MAN. Around his eyes, burnt skin can be seen.

HOODED MAN  
For the lives you have ruined.

- END OF PART ONE -


	2. Part 2

INT. GOTHAM COURTHOUSE – DAY

CAPTION: FIVE YEARS AGO

HARVEY DENT is sat at a desk at the front of the courtroom. Besides his is another lawyer, PETER ANDAL. In the dock is SALVATORE MARONI.

JUDGE (O.S.)

Mr Dent, the floor is yours.

ANDAL

Good luck.

DENT stands. A coin is visible in his left hand.

DENT

Now Mr Maroni, you claim that on the night of February 14th you were playing a high stakes card game with the crime lord known as Black

Mask.

MARONI

I do.

DENT

See, this confuses me. I thought you were a smart man. I thought you were the kind of guy who could cook up an alibi strong enough to

keep you from coming to court. And yet the alibi you come up with is itself enough to bring you here…

MARONI

Your point being?

DENT

I just don't get why you'd do this unless you were trying to distract us from some more heinous activity.

DENT turns away from MARONI.

MARONI

Perhaps I wanted an audience. Perhaps I wanted my message to be heard right across the whole rotten city?

DENT turns back towards MARONI.

DENT

A message?

MARONI lunges forwards, a vial of acid in his hand. The liquid hits the left side of DENT's face. Guards grab Maroni.

MARONI

Nobody is untouchable in Gotham Mr Dent. And no one interferes with Maroni business.

INT. HOSPITAL WAITING ROOM – EVENING

PETER ANDAL sits on a chair reading a book. The door opens and a nurse approaches. ANDAL looks up.

ANDAL

How is he?

NURSE

Mr Andal, I'm not quite sure how to say this but…Mr Dent… He's gone.

ANDAL stands quickly.

ANDAL

Maroni's men must've got in. We've got to-

NURSE

No, no! You don't understand. He… left. He got up, got dressed and walked out. We tried to stop him but he ran out a side exit.

INT. ANDAL'S APARTMENT – DAY

ANDAL enters his apartment. DENT is sitting on his sofa.

ANDAL

ARGH!

DENT

Don't be alarmed, Peter, we're not here to hurt you. I want you to work with me again. The past six month have been so…

disorganised.

ANDAL

You're a wanted criminal Harvey. You torched Maroni's club.

DENT

Yes we did. And we're not stopping there. I'm planning to hit the Maroni Vault.

ANDAL

That's madness.

DENT

Yes it is… No, it's tactics. Maroni launders money for most of the crime lords in Gotham. We hit this vault and he's not going to want to

ever leave his cell again.

ANDAL

I don't know Harv… This isn't petty theft.

DENT

If you join us, you get half I did some snooping, you've got a lot of debts…

ANDAL

But why me? You can hire mercenaries on every other street corner in this dive.

DENT

Loyalty, Peter. I trust you. And in this town, that counts for a lot. And besides, I recall you being a half-way decent martial artist.

ANDAL

…Fine. One job. And I get half.

DENT smiles.

INT. MARONI BUILDING – NIGHT

ANDAL and three other men are in the lobby. Two of the men have shotguns. Laying on the floor are a couple of Maroni's men: dead.

GUNMAN #1 (to ANDAL)

So you knew the boss in the old days, huh?

ANDAL

Yeah, we worked together in the DA's office.

GUNMAN #1

Why the hell would a fancy lawyer be running a job with guys like us? No offense guys.

GUNMAN #2

None taken.

ANDAL

What can I say? I should learn when to fold...

GUNMAN #1

You like cards, you should come with us to the Iceberg-

GUNMAN #1 is yanked forwards falling to his knees, his gun disappearing out the window. ANDAL raises a pistol to the window.

ANDAL

Keep trained on the window. You see movement, you shoot.

BATMAN swings in through a side window, taking out GUNMAN #2. A THUG tries to knife him but BATMAN kicks his legs out from under him. ANDAL turns and fires his gun as BATMAN drops a smoke pellet. ANDAL fires some more.

ANDAL

Where are you?

BATMAN appears behind him, getting him in a choke hold.

INT. VAULT ROOM – NIGHT

HARVEY DENT stands by the vault, moving his fingers along a touch screen. BATMAN kicks open the doors. Smoke drifts in from the other room.

BATMAN

Dent. Step away from the safe.

DENT

I can't, the failsafe will activate. Give me a moment.

BATMAN

I said step away.

Batman grabs Dent and yanks him away from the safe, pinning him to a wall. A high pitched WHEEEEE sounds.

BATMAN

What did you do?

DENT

Fool! We did nothing. It's the failsafe. Sounds like a sonic detonation trigger.

BATMAN

-Hrr-

DENT

We did warn you.

BATMAN knocks out DENT and runs to the window, firing his grapple. He jumps out and the two swing free. Inside, ANDAL is awoken by the alarm. He runs to the safe room and sees BATMAN swing away. He looks at the unconscious thugs. The building explodes. Fire burns his head and right hand. Rubble knocks him down.

INT. DOCTOR'S OFFICE – DAY

A man lays on the bed, his head and right arm wrapped in bandages. It's ANDAL. The DOCTOR sits beside him.

DOCTOR

I wish you'd reconsider, Peter. I've treated your wounds as best I can but… You need surgery, skin grafts.

ANDAL

I'm not going…hh…to a hospital. They'll figure out who I am…hh… Arrest me.

A POLICE SIREN is heard. ANDAL looks out of the window and sees the Batsignal.

ANDAL CONT'D

It's all his fault. He claims to be better…hh… than people like me. But he left four men to die. Four.

He sits up.

ANDAL CONT'D

He has to be stopped…hh…has to be held account for these murders. I…hh...I need to stop him.

DOCTOR

He took you down once, you try this crap again you might die. You need to lie low.

The DOCTOR goes to a drawer, opens it and gets out a ticket.

DOCTOR

Here, it's a return ticket to Beijing.

ANDAL

Why do you have this?

DOCTOR

A gift from a …grateful patient.

ANDAL

You mean a crook.

DOCTOR (smiles)

I mean a grateful patient. That he happened to be a member of one of Gotham's largest crime families is irrelevant. Anyway, I can't get

any holiday time till November so I was gonna put them on eBay but... You need a break.

ANDAL

Thanks.

DOCTOR

Just promise me you'll stop this revenge crap, okay? I don't want you turning up on my doorstep again with a fractured arm or punctured

lung or whatever.

ANDAL looks out of the window at the Batsignal.

INT. WAREHOUSE FOURTH FLOOR – NIGHT

BATMAN looks at the burnt face of the HOODED MAN: ANDAL.

BATMAN

Who are you?

ANDAL

Does it matter? Drug dealer, mugger, assistant to the DA. You don't care. You beat us and leave us to die while you go after the mob

bosses, the supervillains.

BATMAN

I try. But if a place is going to explode you've got to do damage limitations. Save who you can. What happened to you wasn't malicious.

But you knew the risks when you threw in your lot with Joker, Penguin, whoever.

ANDAL

What a moving case you put forwards. Mr Foreman, what does the Jury make of this?

FOREMAN

On seventy-five _known_ charges of murder by negligence, we find the defendant Batman… Guilty.

The JURORS move forwards en masse and attack BATMAN. Knocks out two straight away with a punch—high-kick-combo. He knocks out two more and slide kicks a third but the other seven pin him down. BATMAN's manages to fire his grapple gun at the ceiling. He flies upwards, the JURORS falling off him. BATMAN falls to the ground, taking out five of them. He elbows one in the face then picks up the large book from the desk and spins around, knocking out the FOREMAN with it. ANDAL claps.

ANDAL

Spectacular effort as usual, Batman. But I'm curious… how do you mean to save them?

BATMAN

Save them?

ANDAL

Didn't I say? After you entered the building my men lit it on fire. I imagine by now the bottom two floors are a veritable inferno. What will

you do? There's not time to carry them _all_ out.

BATMAN

This your plan: distract me with rescuing your men while you get away?

ANDAL

What to correct first? No. That's not my plan to get away. Also… they're not my men.

BATMAN kneels next to one and removes his mask. It's a GCPD cop.

ANDAL

Where are my manners? Allow me to introduce Officer Addison. Also present are Officers Sloan, Markiss, Vidal and of course my dear

friend, ol' Jimmy Gordon.

He removes the FOREMAN's mask to reveal GORDON underneath. He has a mind control harness on.

ANDAL CONT'D

The one flaw of the Hatter's devices is they provide no defence against good old-fashioned blunt force trauma, do they Jimmy? (Plays

with Gordon's face) No Mr Reckoner they do not.

BATMAN cries out and hurls a Batarang at ANDAL. It tears into his mask and knocks him back. ANDAL removes his mask to reveal a burnt face with a large cut bleeding.

ANDAL

See? You're all about the collateral damage. This could get infected. All your fault… But that can wait, time's ticking. This building will soon

be destroyed and these hard-working, honest officers will die. Unless you get them out.

BATMAN

We both know it's not possible. With the stairs on fire I could get one out, two at most before I collapse with smoke inhalation.

ANDAL

Are you placing your own life above theirs? You saved Dent from the Maroni Vault. You saved Joker a dozen times over. Are you saying

they're more worthy than the heroic James Gordon?

BATMAN

If I can't save them, I'm a murderer. If I try to save them, I die. Whatever I do, you'll claim victory.

ANDAL

This isn't about beating you. It's about making you accountable. About making you aware that your tiniest actions have enormous

consequences.

BATMAN

I know all about consequences.

BATMAN shoots his grapple gun at the floor and tackles ANDAL out the window. As the fall, BATMAN clips the rope onto ANDAL. (SFX: CLICK) BATMAN lets go and swings into a window on the third floor. ANDAL is hanging upside down.

ANDAL

So instead of being accountable you're going to kill me. No. This is not the reaction I meant!

BATMAN

How were you planning on leaving?

ANDAL

Upright.

Batman gets angry. Pulls him close.

BATMAN

The lower floors are ablaze, but you're clearly not ready to die. So how. Where you planning. To get out?

ANDAL

Crane.

BATMAN

Scarecrow? How was he going-

ANDAL

No! A crane. I text a dock worker and he swings a platform this way and I get out.

BATMAN takes the ANDAL's phone and runs into the building.

ANDAL

Hey! What about me?

BATMAN throws a Batarang at the grapple cartridge clipped to ANDAL's leg. The rope starts to reel out again, ANDAL hurtling towards the harbour. ANDAL screams. The rope runs out just before ANDAL hits the surface of the water. ANDAL unclips cartridge and falls in water.

INT. WAREHOUSE FOURTH FLOOR – NIGHT

BATMAN removes GORDON's mind control device.

GORDON

Batman? Where's Joker?

BATMAN

It wasn't Joker. I'll explain later, first we have to get you all out.

The COPS help each other remove the mind control devices. BATMAN writes a text on ANDAL's phone: 'Move crane now. Fourth floor. Third window from right.' GORDON walks over and looks at the phone. BATMAN goes to the address book.

GORDON

This guy has hundreds of contacts, how do you know who to send it to?

BATMAN

I don't.

BATMAN presses 'Send all'.

GORDON

He's going to have a hell of a phone bill.

EXT. WAREHOUSE – NIGHT

The crane swings round and raises a makeshift elevator to the window.

INT. WAREHOUSE FOURTH FLOOR – NIGHT

BATMAN throws a Batarang at the window which shatters. The COPS and BATMAN climb onto the platform.

EXT. DOCK – NIGHT

ANDAL climbs a ladder out of the water. He looks up and sees the crane with BATMAN and the COPS on it. He runs the other way only to get kicked in the face. It's BATGIRL.

INT. BATCAVE – NIGHT

BATGIRL walks over to BATMAN by the computer.

BATGIRL

The GCPD just arrested the crane operator for aiding and abetting. Are they the barrel analysis results?

BATMAN

Unfortunately.

BATGIRL

What's wrong?

BATMAN

That tiny sample I took contained DNA from four separate people all known associates of Joker, Penguin and Two-Face.

BATGIRL

Oh my god, did he kill them?

BATMAN

He claimed I did. Part of his plan to make me more 'accountable.'

BATGIRL

Did it work?

BATMAN

I have my rules. They work. I attempt to change them, I may lose myself.

BATGIRL

Alright well…I'm heading home. Let me know if anything comes up.

BATMAN

Put this in your father's coffee.

He hands her a bag with 3 pills in.

BATGIRL

What are they for?

BATMAN

To counteract possible lead poisoning.

BARBARA raises an eyebrow and takes the pills. In the background, Alfred smiles.

-END-


End file.
